Meta

Arabic Hashtag (corrected) to get the refugees further south to realise via their smartphones that something very serious is afoot further north so they can re-think, stop in their tracks and re-consider their options.

Get THIS hashtag out to as many of the refugees as possible on the sites and apps THEY are using please and spread this far and wide immediately!

– Buses from Serbia are dispatching people near Croatian border (about 2km away from the border, at small town of Sid). If anyone is in need of medical attention, or simply needs a rest, there is a small hospital being prepared to accomodate people there.

– people are directed to walk via SAFE route to Croatian border (mine free corn fields – be warned NOT to attempt walking out of the roads or crop fields)

– at Tovarnik border crossing, there is center where people can get registered and can get basics (water, food, medical aid)

– from Tovarnik, people are transfered by buses to the town of Vinkovci

– at Vinkovci, a train is taking them to Zagreb, Croatia’s capital, where Croatia is preparing accomodation for larger groups of people

– Buses from Serbia are dispatching people near Croatian border (about 2km away from the border, at small town of Sid). If anyone is in need of medical attention, or simply needs a rest, there is a small hospital being prepared to accomodate people there.

– people are directed to walk via SAFE route to Croatian border (mine free corn fields – be warned NOT to attempt walking out of the roads or crop fields)

– at Tovarnik border crossing, there is center where people can get registered and can get basics (water, food, medical aid)

– from Tovarnik, people are transfered by buses to the town of Vinkovci

– at Vinkovci, a train is taking them to Zagreb, Croatia’s capital, where Croatia is preparing accomodation for larger groups of people

On Monday evening we heard that hundreds of refugees started to walk towards Edirne (the city neighbouring Greece) with the aim of crossing the border by land way. It is reported that the starting motivation was the idea that the borders will be opened, or Germany will take them into the country. Yesterday many of them stopped at the entrance of Edirne city and some sent back to the cities they came from with the buses. Those who want to take buses going to Greece are blocked in the bus stations of Edirne and Istanbul. All in all it is stated that 1150 people reached to Edirne. At the moment there is around 600 refugee waiting in Edirne bus station since three days. In Istanbul bus station other hundreds of them are waiting since two days, police built barricades around them and “keeping them under control” by spraying pepper gas from time to time, the Ministry of Transportation sent a rule to all companies in the bus station banning them to sell tickets to any foreigner citizen.

A charity organization brought food to those waiting in Edirne, but people denied to receive food aid and started a hunger strike telling “we don’t want food we just want to go!”. In both of the cities, the refugees who are blocked keep emphasizing that they just want to pass, many refer to those who are dying in the sea, show the pictures of Aylan, and tell that they don’t want to die like him. When asked about the reason why they want to leave Turkey, they name the rising unaffordable rent prices, not having working right or being underpaid or forced to work long hours in the working places, and having no access to education for their children. Also recently a circular had issued in Turkey forbidding all the asylum-seekers to leave the cities they are assigned to and travel to other cities of the country.

The governer of Edirne said that since last thursday around 8000 refugee came to Edirne to cross the borders “illegally” and they send 7000 of them back with buses, now they gave 3 days to those 2000 waiting in Edirne otherwise some forceful measures will be imposed on them. The solution state authorities of Turkey offering is to forcing them to be placed in refugee camps in Osmaniye, a city on the border with Syria.

A group of activists called everybody to go to Istanbul Esenler Bus station tomorrow (17.09) on 6pm to be in solidarity with the refugees claiming that: “The governors of Istanbul and Edirne should immediately end this inhumane practice and help the asylum-seekers to go the countries they want by recognizing their right to travel! The asylum-seekers on the way should be provided with food, accommodation and health services!”

Hungary just sealed the border with Serbia and started to build the fence on the border with Romania. We have just receIved information that a bigger group of refugees is on its way to the north through Croatia and that they will soon attempt to cross the border with Slovenia.

There is a real possiblity that Slovene authorities will try to close the border with Croatia, following the example of Hungary and later Germany. We believe that we must do whatever is in our power to revert this possibility and keep the border open for refugees, migrants and European citizens. For this reason, we have decided to consider the possibility to organize a transnational caravan for open borders. Our idea is to mobilise as many people as possible to enable refugees to cross the border and create grassroots pressure on authorities so that the borders are not closed.

We believe this is one of the most crucial actions to take NOW and we would like to discuss this possiblity in order to coordinate efforts with organisations, collectives and individuals in Austria, Croatia and Italy. Let’s connect and discuss this issue as soon as possible. We would like to ask you to share this call to those who might be concerned.

A special train has departed for the town of Tovarnik on the Croatian-Serbian border to transfer the refugees to Zagreb. The train is free of charge and can take 1000 passengers. Special free buses have also been made available to take people to reception centers in Zagreb and surrounding areas.

**Call out for an EMERGENCY solidarity action at the Serbian-Hungarian border**

Since yesterday, when Hungary attempted to close its borders, by
bringing army and heavy police force at the newly built fence, and the
new law criminalising migrants has stepped into force, up to 5000
migrants have been stuck at the border. The point at which most people
have been stuck is the border crossing Horgoš 2 (exact location:https://www.google.rs/…/@46.175929,…/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0
) — but the locations might change, or multiply.

The situation is very difficult: there is not enough food, water,
clothes, medicine or shelters. People are sleeping on the bare ground,
there is no place to use the toilet or maintain basic hygene. There are
many people, including women and small children, and new people keep on
arriving all the time. On the Hungarian side, there is the army and
police, with the usual gear of police-dogs, pepper-spray etc.

The situation is very tense, but despite the difficult conditions, the
atmosphere is one of resistance and protest. Some migrants have been on
a dry hunger strike, refusing all food and water until the border is
opened.

**This is a call out to all activists, for an emergency intervention at
the border – we need people to show solidarity with those stuck at the
Horgoš 2 border crossing. Bring along any food, water, basic medicine,
warm clothes or tents, but above all, physical presence of
self-organised affinity groups is needed! A sounds system and as many
megaphones as possible are really needed, for communication in a big
group of people.**

In addition, any trusted information about the developments elsewhere
(such as what is happening on the Serbian-Croatian and
Croatian-Slovenian borders) is also important, as coordinated solidarity
efforts on various points of the route could be crucial. If you do not
have the possibility to come to Horgoš, it would be great if you could
get reliable information about what is happening on the
Serbia-Croatia-Slovenia route, so we can share this with the people on
the Horgoš 2 border crossing.